The Ketchum Curse
by Totally Kowalski
Summary: A reset button…That's what it felt like. Add the pain that erupts from every part of my body every year and the pain from not being able to fully belong in their world. I am Satoshi 'Ash' Ketchum I'm still ten. Biologically, mentally and emotionally, I'm almost sixteen; but physically, I'm ten. No voice change, no puberty, no height change…just an average ten year old.
1. reset button

A reset button…

That's what it felt like. Add the pain that erupts from every part of my body every year and the pain from not being able to fully belong in their world.

I am Satoshi 'Ash' Ketchum, age ten, welcome to my life.

A Pokémon Master, that's all I wanted to be. Of course I'm traveling, living the dream, battling, and making new friends and rivals along the way. But this all comes at a price.

All trainers are automatically eligible to begin their Pokémon journeys when they turn ten years old. Right now, I am in the Unova region with my newest friends, Iris and Cilan and Pikachu, of course.

This all sounds wonderful and amazing that I've been through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova so…what's the problem?

I was ten when I started in my hometown of Kanto. No, I didn't travel five regions and the Orange Islands in one year. I did it in five and a half years. Still not seeing the problem? Let me say it bluntly then.

I'm ten years old and I started my journey five and a half years ago.

Yes, I'm still ten. Biologically, mentally and emotionally, I'm almost sixteen; but physically, I'm ten. No voice change, no puberty, no height change…just an average ten year old.

Every time I enter a new region, I have to pretend to be weak even though Pikachu could probably single handedly defeat all the water Pokémon trainers in Kanto with our training…

Every year, I put on the same cocky, stubborn, somewhat childish attitude that improved between Johto and Hoenn, but stayed the same since then.

It's hard sometimes, knowing that I'm deceiving my best friends. Mom didn't want me to leave because she was scared for my sanity. But I'm doing fine for someone who literally doesn't age a day.

So far, the only others who know are Pikachu, Professor Oak, Gary, Brock, Misty, and my doctor.

I never told May or Max for fear of frightening them, and Dawn was too young to understand. But Brock and Misty knew by the end of our Johto journeys. I told both of them because I was sick of hiding my pain.

Brock suggested that we attempt to train a lot so it would get my mind off the pain. Brock helped a lot by falling for every girl he saw as it distracted May and Max from me. May might have noticed something when she visited Sinnoh, but I kept it from her and Dawn. Dawn, of course, was too distracted by other things when she visited us and didn't point out anything odd.

Now, I'm inviting my friends back to Kanto where there is going to be a party for me. Apparently, all my friends are coming: Brock, Misty, Gary, Ritchie, May, Max, Dawn, Tracey and even Todd and Casey are visiting.

Iris and Cilan are chatting somewhere on the boat. I told them I wanted to rest up, but in reality, I'm in so much pain right now. Pikachu promised to stay by my side.

I half wish that Charizard was still disobedient and would crash the party…but he's coming with us.

The rest of my Pokémon are at Professor Oak's lab. I'm pretty sure my older Pokémon know by now as I told Bulbasaur that it would be okay to tell them. My Pokémon are pretty cool about it, but every now and then I see Pikachu give me a worried look.

If only I didn't have the Ketchum Curse…or at least that's what we call it.

I guess you can say it started with my great-great grandfather. For some reason, he stopped aging when he was fifty. He told everyone that he just battled with Pokémon to keep himself looking young. He died when he was ninety-four, but still looking forty-four years younger. My grandpa stopped physically aging when he was eighty and died ten years later. So really, there's no telling when it'll happen. I have a cousin who is six years older than me, but stopped growing when he was five. He never got to go on his Pokémon journey. No one has figured out why this happens. My dad stopped aging when he was twenty-seven. I wasn't told about the Ketchum Curse until I found out my 'five year old' cousin was actually twelve. When he was fifteen, he decided he couldn't stand it anymore and decided to free himself from this world…I'm assuming that's what happened to my dad since he stopped communicating with us. They never found my father, but my cousin's body appeared on Seafoam Island.

We've been trying for years to get rid of this stupid curse, but it doesn't work. As I said, no one knew how or why it happened, or why it was our family that it happened to.

I still don't want to go back to Kanto…it means facing everyone who doesn't know…everyone who will treat me different once they find out…

So all I have to do is smile and go along with it…

Smile through the pain…

Smile as my life resets again…

Back to ten years old…

Maybe I can't do it…

It seems too much…

The pain…

The looks…

The whispers…

They can't feel it…

Why should I be in pain?

Maybe I should-

"Ash?"

Of course I didn't hear Iris come in…maybe…maybe I can tell her…maybe she'll understand too…and then I'll be ready to tell the others. Misty and Brock already know…that should make it easier.

"Hey, Ash, are you feeling better?" Cilan asked. I hadn't seen him enter as well.

Pikachu and I looked at each other for a minute. He seemed to read my mind. I gave him a nod and he went to close the door.

Maybe I don't have to be alone…

"Can we help you at all?" Iris asked, her voice sounding genuinely concerned.

"Yes." I finally said, my voice sounded tired and hoarse. "I need to tell everybody something…but first, there's something I've been keeping from you- from everybody, really."

"We're here for you, buddy." Cilan said.

I looked at the two of them, making sure I could trust them…

I knew I had to keep going…

Even if everything kept resetting…

Even if our family was cursed, none of my friends could handle it if I-

I washed away the thought at Pikachu's touch…my first Pokémon crawled into my lap, offering comfort…

Cilan and Iris sat down as I opened my mouth…

**A/N: Should I continue this? It popped up because I realized that after all this time, Ash was still ten…**

**Please tell me what you think.**


	2. The road from Vermilion

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long, school work and things of that nature. Here's the next chapter, don't know how long until the next one.**

It had been an hour since I told Iris and Cilan everything that I had confided in Brock and Misty. It was odd though, I was expecting them to be revolted and angry but not this…it's actually kind of funny.

Of course they were shocked, but at the conclusion of my story, they were still here. Iris had launched into lectures about how the bond of friendship was so strong that they would be there for him no matter what and then managed to compare it to friendships between dragon Pokémon which Axew was happy to nod along with her in agreement.

Cilan, on the other hand, put on his 'Detective Connoisseur' hat and attempted to draw out reasons that it could have happened from it being a curse from an ancient Pokémon to genetics really just didn't like the Ketchum family.

I laughed when he said that. It was really the only time I'd actually laughed happily since battling in the Vertress Conference. Even though I'd lost to Cameron, I still felt proud of my Pokémon for making it that far.

The doctors had ruled out any genetic mishaps immediately. He said that there was a faraway land on the other side of the world where a few people had this rare disease that made them stop aging, but I showed no symptoms of this 'Syndrome X' as it was called. Even though my body stayed the same, my brain seemed to be thinking like a sixteen year old. I knew because I had to keep myself from swearing at Team Rocket for the past two years. It was also a bit uncomfortable explaining that even though I thought like a sixteen year old, my body never grew and my teenage hormones never came and that everyone was okay.

After what seemed like forever, we arrived in Kanto. I tried to keep myself occupied by battling, but not many people on this boat were up to it. Cilan and Iris engaged me in battle, but both of them were soundly defeated.

The ship had to wait until another one left before advancing.

"Attention passengers, we have docked in Vermilion City" Porter announced. "You will notice a few lovely schools of Magikarp and Goldeen floating in the docks. You are allowed to capture them, but we would ask that you wait until everyone onboard is out of harm's way."

Tourists took pictures and there were happy chattering people.

My friends and I found our way to the Pokémon center, apparently the last leg of the journey hadn't agreed with Pansage and unfortunately his lunch made reappearance.

We gave all of our Pokémon to Nurse Joy just to make sure they were fine. She gave all but Pansage back right away. The grass type needed a bit more rest before being returned to Cilan.

"Excuse me; do you know where the Pokémon Center is?" A voice asked from behind me.

I was stunned and turned around to find a young boy there. "This is the Pok…Max?" I squinted then smiled. "Max, it is you!" I said happily, ruffling the young one's hair.

"Hey!" Max grumbled, patting down his hair.

"Max, are you challenging trainers again?" The voice sounded familiar to me.

"May! Oh, Dawn, you're here too?"

I saw the blue haired girl walking behind the brunette.

"Wow, I haven't seen you guys in a long time." I paused a moment. I actually hadn't seen May in two years and Dawn only recently. That must mean she's eleven by now and May's twelve…which means…

"Max, you got your first Pokémon?" I asked.

"Yup!" Max said proudly. "I followed May through Hoenn again and then Dawn decided to participate in Hoenn too. I missed you. Oh yeah, remember our promise?"

"You bet!" I said. "Let's battle while Pansage is healing."

Cilan looked back at Nurse Joy.

"Go on, Pansage needs as much rest as possible so don't worry at all." She said.

"Alright." Cilan said.

I grinned and followed Max out of the Pokémon center with the others behind us.

"Alright, this match will be one on one." Cilan said. "Ready? Go!"

"Go, Oshowatt!" I threw the pokeball and out came Oshowatt, ready for battle.

Max smiled and threw his pokeball.

"Treecko" The grass Pokémon said.

"Hey, you got Treecko as your first Pokémon." I said.

"Not really." Max replied. "Treecko, pound!"

"Oshowatt, dodge!"

Oshowatt barely got out of the way when Treecko's fist went by.

"Water gun!"

Treecko was hit by a blast of water before Max could tell it to move.

Treecko fell to the ground and refused to get up.

"Aww, Treecko…not again."

"Treecko is unable to battle, the winner is Ash." Cilan announced.

Max called Treecko back and looked disappointed.

"What happened?" I asked. True, Oshowatt was more powerful than Treecko, but…Treecko should have at least been able to get up and try to fight again. After all, the grass Pokemon did have an advantage.

Max shook his head and went back to the Pokémon center.

"May, what happened?"

"Dawn, do you mind telling?" May asked.

Dawn smiled and led us to a table. May walked over to a bench where Max was sitting.

"I met them in Petalburg." Dawn said. "I was coming to compete in Hoenn and Max wanted to try out for the Hoenn league, but he couldn't get any badges. May told me that the Treecko he has isn't cooperating with Max. So far he's only caught one other Pokémon…and…" She looked uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?"

"Some of the trainers laughed in his face." Dawn said. "They were able to take Treecko down in a short amount of time. Sometimes even shorter than your battle with him. Sometimes Treecko refused to battle at all and hid behind Piplup."

"Piplup Pip!" Piplup said sadly.

"How did he catch another Pokémon?" I wondered. A memory came back of our journeys. "Is it Ralts?" I thought out loud.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Dawn said.

"I used to travel with them and Brock, remember? One day, Max found this injured Ralts and he took care of it. He promised to come back for it."

"That would explain how they knew each other."

I looked over at Max, he looked put down. I left the others to talk to each other and approached the brother and sister.

May smiled and went to join the others.

"Hey, Max. I heard you caught that Ralts."

Max smiled. "Yeah…" he whispered.

"Did I ever tell you that Pikachu refused to listen to me when we first met?"

"Pika!" Pikachu confirmed.

"But Pikachu realized that I was not an enemy and came to save me."

"I think you told us once." Max said. "But I don't want to almost die or something."

"No, but you can train Treecko. It looks like the problem is nerves and not obedience."

"Huh?"

"Hmm, if Brock were here he'd say that it all depends on how the Pokemon and trainer get along with each other. Did you introduce yourself to Treecko?"

Max's eyes widened, I tried not to laugh as he jumped up and stared at the doors where Nurse Joy took Treecko.

"Maybe Treecko wasn't that confident and he didn't know what to do. Maybe Ralts can help you."

Max called out Ralts. "Hey there."

"Ra?" The Pokémon asked.

"I need your help, Ralts. Treecko isn't feeling super confident and I think it's my fault." Max said.

Ralts nodded.

"So could you help me get Treecko's confidence back? Then we can all be a great team."

"Ralts!" Ralts said happily.

"Thanks, I knew I you'd help. Thanks to you too, Ash!"

I smiled. At that moment, Nurse Joy came out with a pokeball. "Treecko's all better, Max." She said. "He just seemed a little nervous, but nothing out of the ordinary."

"Hey, maybe I can introduce Sceptile to him."

"Treecko, come on out!"

Treecko burst from the ball in a flash.

"Treecko?" The grass Pokémon asked.

"Pika pi, Pikachu"

"Piplup lup, Piiiiplup!"

Treecko blushed and looked down.

"Pika, Pikachu Pika Pi…"

"Tree?"

"Chu." Pikachu responded with a smile.

Treecko looked up at Max. "Ko?"

"I guess I should have introduced myself." Max said. "I'm Max. I was hoping to help you grow stronger and we could be great trainers…but I guess I messed up. I wanted to be your friend. Can we still be friends?"

Treecko studied Max for a bit.

"Piplup pip?" Piplup asked.

"Pika!" Pikachu said disapprovingly. I had to try not to laugh, whatever Piplup said didn't agree with Pikachu. I watched Piplup sadly return to Dawn. "Pi…" Pikachu sighed.

I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing. Max started laughing along with me and then Ralts followed. Pikachu looked ready to shock us, but then Treecko whispered something in the electric mouse's ear and both of them laughed too.

Piplup looked insulted until Dawn began tickling him. May, Cilan and Iris laughed along without really knowing why.

And then it happened…

I don't know exactly how, but I ended up on the floor groaning in pain.

"Ash!" May and Dawn gasped.

"Hey, are you okay?" Dawn asked.

"Of course he's not!" Max said. "Nurse Joy, help!"

"It's alright…" I groaned through gritted teeth. "I'm fine"

"Are you sure?" I heard Nurse Joy ask. They helped me sit back on the chair.

"Hey, mind your own business!" Iris snapped at a few people who were staring.

A boy was about to argue, but Axew jumped from the girl's hair and frightened him.

"I'll be alright." I said. "I think it was just from laughing too much…and I ate a lot on the boat." That was true; I couldn't help stuffing my mouth when I was hungry. "No need to worry."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Alright. Should we start heading to your house?"

"Yeah…who wants to fly?" I grinned.

The others looked stunned.

"Fly? Are you crazy?" Iris asked. "Don't be such a kid."

I glared at her. "Stop calling me a kid! I'm older than Max and he HATES being called a kid."

"How are we going to fly?" Dawn asked.

"Wha-?" Cilan said. "It's not possible to fly, is it?"

"You keep forgetting that we have two big Pokemon with wings."

"Charizard and Dragonite?" Iris asked.

"Yup."

"Ash Ketchum, you're insane."

"Oh wow, I love riding Pokemon." Max said. "I call dibs on Charizard!" He said.

"I don't know about you, but I prefer keeping my feet firmly on the ground." Cilan said. "I guess I'll meet you there."

"You can ride Mamoswine." Dawn said. "I'll go with you, two is probably enough for either Pokemon."

"May, do you want to ride on Dragonite?" Iris asked.

"If you're alright with it." May answered.

"Awesome!" I said as I pulled out Charizard's Pokeball. "Let's do it!"

Charizard and Dragonite resumed their rival glares when they were released. I told Charizard to play nice and helped Max climb on while I got behind him.

Iris was happily sitting on Dragonite and May was nervously sitting behind her.

Cilan and Dawn were on Mamoswine and ready to follow. May sent out Beautifly so that Mamoswine could follow if they got lost.

"Ready?" I said.

Charizard huffed and Dragonite growled.

"Go!"

I felt Charizard's wings beat as he took off with a push. Dragonite was next to us and I heard Charizard growl.

"Having a race?" I asked.

Charizard grinned, then realized that Dragonite was ahead of them.

"You don't even know where Pallet town is!" I shouted.

Charizard managed to catch up and both Pokemon were in the lead. Max was cheering and laughing. Iris and May were happy as well, but May looked a little green to me.

I looked back to see Beautifly trailing behind us and Mamoswine following on the ground.

Everything was going well, I ignored the pains that were threatening to take over my head. Everything was good, that's what I tried to tell myself until-

"Dragonite, no!" Iris yelled.

I turned to see Dragonite unusually close and then the dragon crashed into Charizard. Charizard was stunned and growled at the other Pokemon.

"Stop it!" Iris said.

May was trying not to look. Max had a worried expression.

"Charizard, don't fi-"

The rest of my sentence was blocked by a burst of fire that nearly caught Iris's hair.

"Chari-"

WHAM! Dragonite collided again. I shifted a little before making sure Max and Pikachu were safe.

"Hold on tight." I told Max. "Pikachu use thunderbo-"

BAM! Charizard collided into Dragonite this time and I was nearly thrown into May.

"Okay, I regret this now!" May squealed.

I looked down to ask Dawn for help, but we were above the forest. Beautifly caught my eye and immediately flew down into the forest.

"Pikac-"

WHAM! CRACK!

Both of them had collided at the same time and this time I was thrown off.

"ASH!" Max, May, and Iris yelled.

"CHARIZARD!" I screamed as I plummeted down to earth. I was hoping none of them would jump down insanely to save me. I saw a flash of orange, but it was disappearing into the trees.

Speaking of the trees, they were getting closer and closer and I was nowhere near slowing down. I heard Pikachu call out, but my mouth was too dry to respond.

Would this be the end? Would I never be able to finish the master quest I'd so been looking forward too? Is this the end of Ash Ketchum? Maybe that's what this stupid curse wanted…to get rid of every last Ketchum…

So…I guess this is it… I closed my eyes…flashbacks…I was one and my dad let me touch a pokemon for the first time…I was two and I fell off a pokemon and Dad felt so bad…I was three when he showed me how to battle…I was four and I played with two year old Molly Hale… I was five and my dad left on his journey…I wonder if he ever heard that Molly's mother died a couple months later…I was five and I found out my cousin was twelve…I was six when he died…I was seven and Gary Oak stopped being my best friend…I was eight and we fought over that Pokeball we found in the stream…I was nine and my mother explained more to me about my condition…Gary found out, but he promised not to tell a soul…I was ten and I started my Pokemon journey…I met Brock, Misty, many friends, and most of all Pikachu…Pikachu, my best friend…I was eleven, telling Brock and Misty about my condition…I was twelve, watching May in contests and competing in the Hoenn League and Battle Frontier…I was thirteen and competing in Sinnoh…I was fourteen and a half when I started in Unova…I was fifteen and a half, cheering Virgil on as he won the Vertress Conference…sixteen…I never made it to sixteen…my birthday was supposed to be in three months…now I'm falling…hard to believe such accomplishments could be made by a foolish teen…

Iris was right, I am a kid…I thought that Dragonite and Charizard could resolve their differences and have a little race...

Now I'm falling…

Strange, everything just got quieter…

I hit something… my eyes opened…I could just see blurry shapes…then it was dark…


	3. The search for Charizard

**A/N: I forgot about Pansage, let's say that Cilan ran in and got the grass Pokémon before going with Dawn and Mamoswine.**

"Does he look a bit peaky to you?" Cilan asked.

"Peaky?" May said.

"What do you expect from falling from higher than a hundred feet?!" Iris exclaimed.

"Yeah Cilan, let's push you off the top of a flying Pokémon and see what you look like." Max retorted.

"Look, he's waking up." Dawn said. "Ash? Ash, are you alright?"

I managed to find my voice. "Just peachy." I said sarcastically.

"Haha, very funny." Iris said. "You had us all worried."

"Quick question…why are you all not crying over my dead body?"

"Well, you're alive." May said. "And you scared us half to death. Luckily you were caught, we're in Pewter City."

"Pika!" Pikachu said, crawling onto my chest.

"Dragonite?" I asked.

Iris lifted her Pokeball. "Dragonite isn't allowed out for a while. And in case you were wondering, it was not my Pokémon who saved you. It was a wild bird."

I looked at her with what I thought was a puzzled expression. I just realized that I was not in pain and I had no broken bones.

"Who?"

"Pi-jyoo" A bird's call answered.

A large bird that was at least half a foot taller than Max came into view.

"P-Pidgeot?"

"Pijoo!" Pidgeot answered.

"I told you I'd come back for you." I said lamely. "And you came back for me…thank you."

The bird Pokémon rubbed my head gently with its beak. I was feeling happy and calm until I remembered what exactly I had been doing.

"Max, how are you here? Where's Charizard?"

The others exchanged uncomfortable looks.

"I fell off Charizard and a couple of Pidgeot's friends helped me down to where Mamoswine was.

"And Charizard?"

Again with the uncomfortable looks. Silence was the answer I received. I started to think something terrible had happened to Charizard.

I kept raising my eyebrows at them, but they avoided my eye contact.

"Please…" I said hoarsely. "Where's Charizard? I heard a cracking noise…is he injured…is he here? Please tell me he's not…" My stomach suddenly felt sick.

"No." May said. "A-at least…we don't think so… we don't know where he is… Iris thinks one of his wings broke, but we were more worried about Max when he fell off."

"Understandable…" Ash mumbled. "Did he fall into Viridian Forest or the forest around Mt. Moon?"

"Mt. Moon's surrounding forests." Cilan answered.

"Right." I said, pushing myself up and startling the electric mouse Pokémon. My feet were dangling off the bed when May pulled my shoulder back.

"No, you need to rest." She said.

"No, I need to find Charizard. He's been abandoned once before and I'm not about to let him go again." I looked out the window. "There's a storm coming in." I said. "He's too big to hide in bushes or under trees from the downpour and if he can't fly…"

"Pi-joo!"

"Ash!"

"You can't go!"

"It's dangerous and you need to rest!"

"I agree with Cilan."

"Pika!"

"Really?" I groaned, looking at my friends. "What about you?" I asked May. She was the only one who hadn't said anything yet.

"Well, it's dangerous but… if it was my Charizard that was out there then I'd want to go get him." May said.

"Alright, then May and I will go and you guys stay here…unless you want to come too. No need to worry, right?"

"Every time you say that is when I worry the most." Dawn grumbled. "It's cold and it's going to rain soon."

"Which is why I have to get Charizard back in his Pokeball as soon as possible." I said, showing the red and white ball. "He'll be safer in here so we can get him back to the Pokémon Center."

"Am I the only one who thinks this is nuts?" Cilan asked. I looked around to see my friends smiling at what I said and Iris looked concerned. "I'm not going out there."

"Cilan, what if your Pokémon was out there?" May asked. "You'd want to make sure they're safe, right?"

"Of course, but-"

"Then there's no buts about it, we're going to save Charizard." Iris said.

"Then let's stop chatting and get going!" Max said.

"Yeah!" Dawn agreed.

"Alright, fine." Cilan said. "I guess five heads are better than four. And Pansage can look since he's unaffected by water."

"Pika!" Pikachu said.

And with that, we were off!

That is until Nurse Joy stopped us.

"I'm sorry, I cannot allow you out. The storm is about to break out any moment and it's going to be a big one."

"My Pokémon is out there somewhere. If I don't get Charizard, he might die."

"There are caves in Mt. Moon, I'm sure-"

"HE CAN'T FLY! HE GOT HIT BY A DRAGONITE AND HIS WING IS BROKEN!" I shouted.

"Ash, please don't-"

"Nurse Joy, I know I can find Charizard before the storm gets worse and I'll return him to his pokeball. I don't care if I get soaked on the way back, but I'm not letting Charizard stay out there any longer because He. Might. Die."

I turned abruptly and ran out of the building with Pikachu at my heels before anyone could respond.

I heard footsteps behind me and Nurse Joy calling out. I assumed that the others had followed me.

I finally stopped at the edge of the forest and turned around. "Where's Max?"

"Nurse Joy absolutely refused to let him out." May said. "But I have a feeling he'll come. Two trainers rushed by us on their way to the Pokémon Center so Max should be here right about…"

"Hey!"

"Now."

Max panted as he caught up with us. "What's the plan now?"

"We call out all our Pokémon and have them look for Charizard. We'll need to split up." I said. "There's six of us so we should be in groups of two. Dawn and Iris search to the left; Max and Cilan search to the right; May, you and I will head to the center of the forest. If you get too wet, abandon search and go back to the Pokémon Center. I'll let you be the judge of how much rain you can tolerate. I don't want any of you to endanger yourselves or get sick so take care of yourselves."

"Right!" Everyone replied. The group split up, leaving me and May at the edge of the forest. I looked up at the darkening sky.

"It's a big storm." I remarked.

"Yeah, which is why we have to save Charizard. Everyone, on stage!"

I smiled at her introduction. Blaziken, Beautifly, Venusaur, Wartortle, and Glaceon came out and smiled at us.

"Blaze." The fire Pokémon said.

"We need your help finding Charizard." May said. "All of you remember what he looks like, right?"

The Pokémon nodded.

"And Beautifly, if it starts to rain, come back to me."

"Beautifly."

I called out Oshowatt. "Help find Charizard, he's hurt somewhere in the forest."

Oshowatt nodded.

"Oshowatt, Charizard, and Pikachu are the only ones I took on the boat with me." I told May. "The others are at Professor Oak's."

May nodded.

Oshowatt jumped on Blaziken's shoulder and the two of them disappeared into the trees.

May and I exchanged looks of determination and entered the forest. Glaceon and Pikachu stayed near us.

"Charizard!" I called.

"Charizard!" May yelled.

"Charizard, if you can hear me then follow my voice!"

"Mine too!"

"Pika pi!"

"Gla Glaceon!"

I suddenly felt something hit me. I saw May look at her hand as well. We both knew what it meant.

We sped up as we went deeper into the forest. The rain seemed to want to hurry along with us as it grew heavier.

Beautifly and Blaziken were called back and Pikachu hid in my backpack. Wartortle, Venusaur, and Oshowatt stayed close to us now.

I got a call from Cilan who said that he and Max had come back when Ralts and Pansage started sneezing and coughing. Nurse Joy chewed them out for ignoring her warning.

I tried to call Iris, but she didn't answer.

"May, I think you should go back now."

She had called Venusaur back into the pokeball when it became too cold for the grass Pokemon to bear.

She shook her head. "I'm with you."

"Don't be stubborn, it's too cold and wet. I think the rain got heavier in the last three minutes."

"I'm alright, Ash."

"Are you sure? I swear I heard you coughing five minutes ago. And you just sneezed before I told you that you should go back."

"Everyone coughs and sneezes."

"You weren't coughing like you had a dry throat, you were coughing like it was bugging you. I don't want you to get a cold on my account."

"Okay, but Glaceon's staying with you."

"I'm alright with that."

She handed me Glaceon's Pokeball. "Glaceon, please listen to Ash and if anything goes wrong then I want you to come and get me."

The ice Pokémon nodded.

"Take Pikachu, it's too harsh for an electric type."

May backed up. "No way, what if something happens and Pikachu is your only way to send up a signal. Water conducts electricity so if you send up a spark, we'll know something is wrong."

"Pika." Pikachu's muffled voice agreed.

I sighed, she had a point.

May left with Wartortle and I continued the search with Glaceon. Oshowatt had started to shiver and I brought him back to safety immediately.

Glaceon seemed to enjoy the cold unlike the shivering electric mouse in my backpack.

"Ch-Char-i-zard…" I coughed out.

Glaceon looked at me with a worried expression.

"I-I'm fi-i-ne."

"Gla?"

I tried to smile. I picked up my Pokedex to see a call from Iris popping up.

"Ash, I'm at the Pokémon Center with Dane."

"Oh great, first Lyra and now you, it's Dawn." Dawn's voice came.

"We're really wet and want you to be okay."

"I'm alright." I said hoarsely.

"Glaceon." Glaceon said, giving me a skeptical stare.

Iris seemed to share Glaceon's skepticism. "I'm not convinced."

"I'm no-ot leaving Ch-" I burst out into violent coughs; the pain ripped through my throat and burned my chest.

"Ash!"

I felt the Pokedex slide from my fingers and splash into the muddy puddles of the forest floor.

"Pika?" Pikachu popped out.

"Gla! Glaceon!"

"Ash, are you still there? Ash?"

Pain…so much pain… the Pain decided to join the coughing pains…my whole body is on fire now…I think I'm on the ground…

Pikachu stood in front of me, but I couldn't hear what he or Glaceon were saying.

I saw Glaceon turning to leave for May, but I used my shaking arm to grab the pokeball.

"R-return…"

I heard a shout from the Pokedex, I'm pretty sure it was May.

I heard Pikachu's startled cry and saw a pair of legs before passing out for the second time in one day.

…

…

…

The first thing I realized when I woke up was that I was only wearing my underwear, but I was under a thick, warm blanket and I was dry. I could still hear rain outside, but it seemed to have lightened up to a drizzle.

I opened my eyes to find myself in a dimly lit tent. I turned to find Pikachu sleeping right next to me.

My clothes had been hung up at the top of the tent and looked pretty dry. I knew I had spare clothes in my backpack.

Pikachu yawned and greeted me with a warm smile.

The only other occupant of the tent was…Charizard?

"Charizard?" I said, my voice still sounding hoarse.

The Charizard yawned and blinked at me. Something told me that it wasn't mine.

"Chaa!" It called.

I looked towards the entrance of the tent to see a girl with shoulder length brown hair entering.

"Thanks buddy." She said, returning the Pokémon. "Well, you gave us quite a scare didn't you?"

"Huh?"

"You don't recognize me, Ash? I only lived next to you for three years and played with you. I began my Pokémon journey two years after you did."

"Sorry." She did look familiar, but the name slipped my mind.

"I can't believe it took you a year to complete your Kanto journey, it took me three. I even managed to defeat the Elite Four. I've been spending the last couple of years travelling the Sevii Islands and helping people around in Kanto."

"Oh."

The girl rolled her eyes. "The name's Rika."

"Right…" I said.

"You need water." She said, "Then you'll be able to say more than one word."

She dug inside her backpack and found a bottle of water.

"Here ya go!" She said.

"Thanks." I drank it to find that I was really thirsty. Rika had to take it away from me because I was taking huge gulps.

"Don't want to be nauseous now, do we?" She said.

"Uh…"

"If you're wondering, I did not sleep in this tent last night." She said. "My best friend did, he's tending to your Charizard."

"Oh, Charizard, how is he?"

"So you CAN say more than one word!"

"Char-"

"It was a bad break, but Timmy's wrapped Charizard's wing and it's the best we could do…we found him in a pretty pathetic state, his tail flame was so small and he was shivering."

"Why were you out in the pouring rain?"

"We didn't know it was going to be this bad. Should I ask about you?"

"My friend's Dragonite decided to play bumper car and knocked us out of the air." I said.

"Wow." She bent down to Pikachu's level and held a wooden stick. "Say ah!"

"Kaaaa…." She put the stick on Pikachu's tongue.

"Looks good to me, but you might want a professional opinion, I'm not a doctor." She said. "By the way, my Charizard heat dried your backpack and clothes. Shall I leave you to get dressed?"

"Please." I said.

She left the tent with an umbrella.

"I should have brought an umbrella." I told Pikachu as I changed my underwear. The rest of my clothes were as warm and dry as if they had just come from the dryer.

After getting dressed, Pikachu and I headed outside of the tent to find that the weather was now a slow drizzle. We saw a red tent nearby and I noticed that the outside of Timmy's tent was green.

We headed to the red tent and heard voices coming from it. A brown haired boy peeked out.

"Hello!" He said brightly. "I was wondering when you'd show up in the land of the living. Come on in."

I rolled my eyes and entered the tent. My Charizard was curled up with a wrapped up wing sticking up. His tail was propped up and he looked uncomfortable, but he was sleeping.

"It was the best we could do." Timmy said sadly. "You're Ash Ketchum, right?"

"Yeah, I don't believe we've met." I said, shaking his hand while keeping an eye on Charizard.

"I'm Timmy. Yeah, I moved here from Johto when I was eight, I think you'd already set off on your journey. I did see you come back to Pallet a few times after that with the gym leaders from Pewter and Cerulean. When I had my gym battle, it was with Flint instead of Brock. I did challenge the pretty redhead, Misty."

"Yeah." I said, for some reason I didn't like him calling Misty pretty.

"I wonder if she'd go on a date with me."

"She's way out of your league. She's Johto material." Rika said with a blush.

"Misty isn't looking for a boyfriend." I said. "She told me." Which was a blatant lie, I hadn't talked to Misty about that. I don't know why I felt this way. I needed to change the subject so I looked at my Pokémon. "Could Charizard go back in the ball?"

"I think that would be safe, then we'll pack up camp and head to Pewter. By the way, I think this is yours." Rika held up my Pokedex.

"It's probably broken." I said sadly.

"Nope." Timmy said. "I'm good with electronics and before your Pikachu went to bed, I asked for help fixing it. It's still a bit damaged, but it can make phone calls. I know because the girl with the puffy purple hair started asking a bunch of questions."

"Ha…puffy purple hair…" Rika laughed, and then she stopped. "Sorry, is she a friend?"

"Yeah, I was travelling with them to Pallet."

"Alright, I guess we can get this show on the road." Timmy said, exiting the tent.

"Chaaa…"

I looked over at the fire-flying Pokémon; he looked blearily at me and smiled faintly before passing out.

"He's been doing that on and off." Rika said.

"Charizard, return."

A flash of red called Charizard back into the safety of the pokeball.

"I'm glad you're alive, now we need to get you to a Pokemon Center." I turned to Rika. "Ready when you are!"

Rika and I exited the tent to find Timmy and a Venusaur working on packing up the tent.

I helped Rika pack her tent and an hour later we were all ready to leave. The rain had stopped by the time we exited the forest. I held Charizard in my hands, not wanting to leave him on my belt.

We ran into the Pokémon Center to see an anxious looking Nurse Joy and all my sleeping friends. I snorted at them and gave the nurse my Charizard.

She disappeared in a flash, taking Pikachu, Oshowatt, and Glaceon with her as well.

"Hey, I thought of a hilarious joke." Timmy said. He knelt down next to Iris and held her hand. "Oh my dear puffy hair, may I say you look exceptionally puffy today." He said loudly.

Iris woke up with a start and whipped her hand away. "Wha-?"

"My dear, Puffy Hair, please do me the great honor of-"

"WHOA!" Iris shouted, waking up the others. "What the heck is wrong with you? I'm ELEVEN and I don't even know you and…did you just call me 'puffy hair'?"

"No."

"Wh- I- yes you did!"

"Oh, well if I did then why do you ask?"

"You are insane."

"Really, I don't even know you."

"That's what I said!"

"Really? What a coincidence!"

Iris stared openmouthed at Timmy.

May, Cilan, Rika and I were trying not to laugh, but it was so hard. Dawn hid her face in her scarf and giggled into it while Max just laughed out loud.

"Ash!" May had just realized that I was there. She ran up to hug me.

"Ah…can't…breathe…"

She let go. "Sorry. Are you alright? Did you get Charizard?"

"Yes, he's alri-"

"Why did you call Glaceon back?" She demanded, "I gave you Glaceon for a reason, so if we needed to be in contact then we'd have a Pokémon that could handle harsh weather."

"I'm sorry…I guess I wasn't thinking."

"I'm starting to notice a pattern here." Dawn said. "Ash doesn't think a lot."

"I do so!" I protested.

"Ash Ketchum." Nurse Joy said, emerging from the double doors with a stern look on her face.

"Yes, ma'am?" I said innocently.

Her expression softened somewhat. "Alright, I'm not going to yell at you but I am going to tell you that what you did was extremely dangerous. You really should take better care of yourself and your friends should not have followed you."

"I didn't ask them to."

"I know, they told me."

"How's Charizard? All I know is that these two found him." I gestured to Rika and Timmy.

Nurse Joy abandoned all sternness and looked sad. "The good news is that his wing will make a full recovery in about a week or two and his tail flame is growing bigger. I advise keeping him away from any battles for the next few weeks."

"And the bad news."

"Depending on how everything goes, I might have to keep him here for a while."

"W-what? Why?"

"He has Hypothermia."

Everyone gasped, but I just stared at Nurse Joy.

"What does that mean?" Max asked.

"How come we didn't get it?" May asked.

"Why didn't we notice it?" Rika asked. "Timmy and I did everything for Ash in case he had Hypothermia, but he didn't."

"Remember that I made all of you change and go into the warmest part of our Pokémon Center. You didn't have time to catch it." Nurse Joy said. "As for noticing, it's hard with Fire type Pokémon because they already generate heat, but with Hypothermia it's at a lower temperature than even the weakest Fire type. Max, Hypothermia occurs when the body is at a dangerously low temperature and as I said, Charizard's temperature is lower than a baby Charmander's. Right now he's pale drowsy, shivering uncontrollably and his breathing and heart rate are slow. We're monitoring him and it seems that he was kept warm and he should be accepting treatment. He's also irritated because he wants to sleep, but we don't want to run the risk of him falling into a coma and are keeping him awake. " She inhaled deeply. "There's a chance that if this doesn't work…there's a possibility…and we're hoping it doesn't happen, but there's a chance, however slim, that Charizard will die."

The world seemed to slow down; my friends were still staring at Nurse Joy. I don't know how or why, but my feet were moving. They were following the pink haired nurse. They were moving even though my legs felt like lead.

I was numb; my brain seemed to be empty of all thought. Mindlessly following Nurse Joy to a room where I realized my Charizard lay.

He was breathing slowly and deeply, his exhales sounding ragged as if he'd just finished a battle. A couple of Chanseys were working on machines that were attached to the Pokémon.

There was a lump in my throat, preventing me from speaking. I simply walked over to Charizard and touched his side. I realized that it did seem colder than I remembered.

Charizard's eyes were on me, I tried to smile to show him that I was alright, but he didn't seem to buy it. I still couldn't find my voice. Pikachu hopped onto Charizard's bed and began speaking. Charizard's eyes grew wide in shock; I assumed Pikachu had explained that the bigger Pokémon was sick.

It took me a while, but I finally found my voice. "We'll keep going." I said hoarsely. "We'll keep getting stronger and we'll take the world by storm." I gave a weak chuckle. A faint smile appeared on Charizard's face.

"Charizard, I promise that when your wing is healed we'll go back on the road. Maybe we can start all over from Pallet Town. We'll challenge each region again until we're the champions of the entire world."

"Champions of the entire world, huh?" A voice said from behind me. I turned around to find a familiar face grinning at me. "Mind if I tag along?"

**A/N: Ba-bam! Who is this mysterious stranger? What's going to happen to Charizard? When will the cliffhangers stop? Where in the Pokemon world is Team Rocket? How will Ash complete his quest with or without Charizard? Why am I asking YOU all these questions?**

**Disclaimer in profile…only things I own are my characters. Rika (yes, I actually named my game charater Rika) and Timmy are mine. Should they be included or just make cameo appearances with slight references? I do have a plan for them…oh yes…MWAHAHAHAHA!**

**Team Rocket WILL make appearances. (I love them too much to not include them)**

**PS: The first few lines or so are from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and have been modified to fit this story. The lines are from after Harry fell from his broom…and Ash fell…from Charizard…**

**I am sorry if boredom of waiting occurs, but rest assured that I WILL NOT abandon this story…I hope I can keep the interest going. It just takes me longer…especially now since I just realized I'm trying to write six different stories at once… I'm ultra busy with school…and another is worming it's way into my head…Is there any way to ki- I mean get rid of plot bunnies? **


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